Brandon Libby's 2dr JK build

[Brandon Libby]

A friend asked me for a link to the build thread for one of my past vehicles and it occurred to me that I hadn't done one. In the spirit of not letting that happen twice, here is my 2012 MW3 two door:

I purchased this Jeep used from Chrysler/Jeep dealership about nine months ago, and, after careful scrutiny I realized it had never been off road before. Sweet!

Here is a pathetic excuse for a pic of the day I bought it:


I had originally intended to pick up a "Willy's Wheeler" model because it had most of the attributes I preferred but wasn't as expensive as the Rubicon model. They just happened to have two MW3 edition 2dr's in stock in silver. Both were hard top, but one had a paint matched top and was slightly abused. I opted for the black top. Both were cheaper and better equipped than the Willy's Wheeler and the mileage was low on the black top, so that's the one I brought home.

Being a grown man-child, I couldn't be seen riding around with MW3 placards and such all over my ride, so I decided to do something about it.

OMG:



After hitting the logos with a black fabric pen.

I also removed the hideous fender placards:



This is a more fitting place for the one that survived removal.

It looked so naked, I heart decals, and it pretty much came with AEV bumpers and front skid plate from the factory so:


Reppin' my favorite community:

Did I mention I heart decals?

A friend of mine had a folding table on the tailgate of his JK and it seemed pretty useful. I decided to build one also, only with a bit of storage inside.

9 bottles of beer on the wall, 9 bottles of beer....

The storage box has come in handy storing some of my smaller gear. Some of which belongs to this:

CKMA12 mounted on a Synergy brake master cylinder mount.

In the words of Mathew James Scott, "because overland."

Plastidip was chosen due to its easy/harmless removal.

Continued....

 

[Brandon Libby]

I kept my Warn M8000 winch when I sold the XJ. The AEV winch plate is necessary to mount the winch to the bumper, so that's what I did.




Other than a couple of simple modifications, the Jeep is pretty much stock. The last Jeep was heavily modified. This time I plan to modify it when I find something that hinders performance. With it's small size, storage is going to be of a premium. With that said, the AEV rear tire carrier with all of the mounting points for things such as the fuel caddy, shovel, Hi-Lift, etc. will most likely find its way onto the Jeep as some point.

I have been working on some storage solutions for the rear cargo space. Particularly a set of drawers and a place to secure the 50qt ARB.

 

[Brandon Libby]

This needs to find its way in there.


It fits fairly well.

Dimensions:

• Depth: 32"
• Width: 34"
• Height: 20"
• Drawer compartment width: 15"

There is a ton of 3/4" plywood left over from teardrop construction. Naturally, I chose this to build what you see here. I'm going to have to open my wallet and go back to the store to pick up some 1/2" birch to build the drawers. I just need to find the time....

 

[BBailey]

Autometrics Motorsports... Charleston, SC?

 

[Brandon Libby]

Autometrics Motorsports... Charleston, SC?

Yes. That's correct. I worked there for seven years before moving out of state.

 

[DEFENDERBEAM]

Right on!

Those are sweet with that bumper package. Best bumpers ever on a stock truck IMO.

I Wish they still offered it in some form. I might end up with those after looking at various available aftermarket options.

You could also grab some AEV seat covers (but they are a pretty penny).

The pen is a good option.

 

[Brandon Libby]

Right on!

Those are sweet with that bumper package. Best bumpers ever on a stock truck IMO.

I Wish they still offered it in some form. I might end up with those after looking at various available aftermarket options.

You could also grab some AEV seat covers (but they are a pretty penny).

The pen is a good option.

I am happy that the bumpers so closely resemble AEV's original design. I only wish they came with the "premium" bumper with the brush guard. As far as the seats, I did look at several re-upholster options such as the Katskins, but like you said, they are expensive.

 

[BBailey]

Yes. That's correct. I worked there for seven years before moving out of state.

Small world. Gordon and crew built and maintained all my racecars from PCA (bought Cory's old car) right up through quite a few years running in the old Grand-Am Cup (Porsche 996) that Cory co-drove with me.

 

[Brandon Libby]

I did the conversion on your 944, Brian! Although I no longer worked there full time, I was also there for the debut of that 996. That was a rough day.

 

[BBailey]

I did the conversion on your 944, Brian! Although I no longer worked there full time, I was also there for the debut of that 996. That was a rough day.

The 951 was fun. Cory did a great job with the initial stock class build, too good probably, and it just got more fun as we stripped it down, built up the engine, and turned it into a competitive GT3 car. The 996, what can I say, it was frustrating from day one. Fastest car in the in-field at Daytona only to get whipped on the banking because we were so far down on power. And that just became more and more evident at Fontana and Laguna Seca that season. Take a race off to swap in the 3.6 and what happens. She gets put in the wall at T1 in the practice just prior to qualifying at Barber her first time back out while we're at the top of the leaderboard. After that, I just figured she was cursed. Think she's up in Virginia now running a lot of PCA races.

 

[Brandon Libby]

I'm still hammering out the details on this thing. I figured it might be nice to have somewhere to lay things when the fridge wasn't in there -which will be most of the time. So I added a small box around the perimeter with some fancy speed holes to aid in the ventilation of the fridge compressor. The required 50mm of clearance for the compressor is still there even with addition of the fence.









I still have to:

• Build top drawer
• Add handles
• Coat the exterior black, most likely bed liner I have some leftover Herculiner
• Add more tie down points

...amongst other things as well.